


how to turn your love on

by Love_Me_Dead



Series: straight into my heart and stole it [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, M/M, Mentions of Sex, mentions of drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 05:51:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_Me_Dead/pseuds/Love_Me_Dead
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis tells Zayn and Niall about his relationship with Harry. They also celebrate Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	how to turn your love on

**Author's Note:**

> bwoop so I don't really know what to say except that this was supposed to be a lot shorter than it ended up being. I hope you like it as much as you liked the first one so yeah
> 
> Much thanks to my beta, Viclin.

“What do you say, Louis?” 

Louis turns towards Niall, brows raised now. He’d completely spaced out and hadn’t paid any attention to the previous question. His eyes were focussed on a table adjacent from his, one that sat empty now. Four months ago, Harry ate at that table and would endure any teasing that he heard from Louis’s table. 

“What do I say about what?” Louis asks, taking a sip of his water.

“Drinks tomorrow night,” Niall repeats, nearly rolling his eyes. “At the Horseshoe.”

He shrugs, looking down at the table. “I think I have a date,” he says.

He doesn’t have a date. But he does have a little tradition with Harry. Every other Friday, they get together and have a movie marathon and they usually end up making out after the opening credits of their first movie. It’s a tradition and tomorrow is one of the days they have planned and Louis can go out for drinks with Niall and Zayn any time he wants. 

Niall does roll his eyes now. “With who?” He asks.

“Uh, just this guy,” Louis says nonchalantly. He’s not embarrassed to be dating Harry, not at all. He’s just really scared of his friends’ reactions to finding out that they are dating. He’s scared that he’ll become subject to their hurtful words that are quite funny but have made his boyfriend cry before. 

“You go on dates an awful lot for a single guy, Lou,” Zayn remarks, watching him.

“Yeah, uh.. if you guys aren’t too hungover, do you want to come round to mine for lunch tomorrow?” Louis suggests, watching the both of them nervously. He knows that Harry is coming to his flat tomorrow and that they always end up spending the night together. It’d be the perfect opportunity to introduce them to his boyfriend.

Introduce isn’t the right word. More like reintroduce. Zayn and Niall know Louis’s boyfriend. They know the dorky secretary who was accident-prone, tripped over his own feet and was constantly the victim of Zayn and Niall’s taunting. But they don’t know the hot (and still dorky) boy who has tattoos and curly hair and smiles brighter than the sun when Louis tells him he loves him. They don’t know the boy that sang Louis back to sleep at two in the morning after Louis woke up from a nightmare. 

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Niall says, sharing a look with Zayn. 

The two of them scrap their plans for getting plastered and instead decide to see the new Superman movie together and play video games until they pass out at Niall’s. They press on for information about Louis’s mystery guy and he gives none, just telling them that they’d find out. They guess that he’s a model or superstar or something and Louis chuckles as he heads out of the lunch room.

His left hand drops down and brushes across Harry’s older table, where his arm would be lying if he were here. But he got a new job, a better one according to him. He works a few blocks away now as a marketing guy and he loves his new job. Louis does too because now he isn’t tempted to head up to his desk, lean over the little wall and kiss him. And he doesn’t have to watch Harry’s mood dampen as Niall and Zayn make fun of him. He also doesn’t have to listen to them make fun of him and tell them off.

Louis especially likes not having to tell his friends off because they would definitely remind him of how he never used to do that and ask him what changed. And Louis would have no answer and then it’d turn into a fight and he loves his best friends. He’s ready to tell them about himself and Harry because he’s realized that he can keep both relationships alive even if they don’t approve of each other. 

 

The following night Louis is curled under the protective curl of Harry’s arm as they watch Spiderman 3. There’s an empty bowl of microwave popcorn on the coffee table in front of them, the sides of it slick with whatever chemicals they call butter and the bottom hidden by a thin layer of kernels that didn’t pop. Sitting on coasters are two wine glasses with splashes of red in the bottom (it doesn’t really go with popcorn but it’s nice) and a bottle not far.

“So Niall and Zayn are coming for lunch tomorrow,” Louis whispers when the end credits begin to roll and he stands to change the movie.

“I’ll clear out before then,” Harry says softly, taking a sip of his wine. Louis knows that they both like spending most of Saturday together as well, just sitting and laughing with each other. He knows that Harry enjoys cooking lunch and dinner for Louis on Saturday, calling him in to taste things and smiling when he gives suggestions.

Louis pushes Shaun of the Dead into the DVD player, shrugging. “You could always stay…”

“I don’t want to listen to them mock me.”

He stands, heading back to the couch after pressing play. The trailers for other movies are playing when he perches in Harry’s lap. “Don’t worry about that, love,” he whispers, resting their foreheads together. “I won’t let them. I want to tell them we’re together.”

Brad Pitt is screaming on the TV and Harry sighs a little. “But, Louis…”

“No,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I want to show them how happy I am with you because I can’t hold it in any longer.”

A small grin spreads across Harry’s lips, his cheeks turning a light pink.

“I dated a guy in high school that they absolutely hated but I was happy with him for a bit so they put up with him. They’re my best friends, love. They’ll love you.”

The options screen for the movie comes up. Harry nods. “B-but if they don’t?”

“I don’t know,” he says honestly. “But if they make fun of you, I’m kicking them out.”

Harry grins widely. He grabs the remote, starting the movie and kissing Louis gently. “I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you too, sunshine” Louis whispers. When he says it, Harry smiles a little wider and sunlight drips out of his pores.

 

Louis wakes up in the morning naked and sticky with his back stinging a little. The shower is running in the other room and he draws the conclusion from the empty piece of bed beside him. He groans, curling forward into a C-shape with his arms and legs pushing in front of him. This proves to be a terrible idea when his back smarts and he winces, relaxing back into a regular shape. He sits up and rubs his eyes, glancing over at his alarm clock and swearing a little when he sees it’s already eleven o’clock. 

He grabs some clothes he can change into, seeing Harry’s bag in the corner, the clothes gone. At the bottom of it is the corner of a book that Louis recognizes well as Harry’s scrapbook. As it so happens, Harry is quite the photographer in his spare time and he enjoys putting together scrapbooks. He tried doing it when he was a teenager but it didn’t quite work out very well. So now he has a scrapbook of his first life. The pictures are good at representing the things that he’s doing without explicitly showing it. 

A month ago, when they had sex for the first time, Harry took a picture and scrapbooked it. He used a picture of Louis the morning after, his lips chapped from so much kissing, a hickey bright on his neck and his hair mussed from Harry’s fingers. He’s smiling sleepily in the picture, completely unsure of the future use for the photo. When he asks, Harry tells him and he thinks it’s really cute. 

A week later when they have sex for the second time, Harry tries taking another picture. Louis talks him out of it, reminding him that he’s pretty sure they’re gunna be together for a while and that means they’ll have loads more sex and if he scrapbooks their second time, he’ll feel obligated to scrapbook all the times they had sex. 

Louis heads into the bathroom, not caring that Harry was in the shower as he steps into the steamy room. Harry is singing but he falters when he hears Louis enter, voice dropping.

“It’s me, babe,” Louis says, yawning as he tries looking in the steam-covered mirror.

“Good morning, love,” Harry says.

“I’ve to shower before they get here. I’ve still got come on me.”

Harry laughs, stepping out of the shower and leaving it on for Louis. He blushes a little with the realization that he’s naked and Louis is too and that makes Louis roll his eyes.

“Love, we see each other naked like, all the time,” he chortles, leaning up and pressing a kiss to his lips. 

He wraps a towel around his waist, kissing him back. When Louis pulls away from it, Harry’s face follows before he pulls away and watches him step into the shower. 

“Do you want breakfast?” Harry asks as he runs the smallest amount of water possible for brushing his teeth.

“Mmm, something small because they’ll be here soon,” he says. “But something so I’m not a bitch.”

Harry makes some noise of ascent around the foam and the toothbrush in his mouth. Louis washes the shampoo out of his hair, his ears filling with water as his head tips back and shutting out any other sounds. The water quickly rushes out of his ears and he hears Harry spitting into the sink, the water dribbling out of the tap.

“How should I dress?” He asks. Louis can almost see him reaching for his mouthwash.

“In a suit and tie,” Louis teases.

“R-really?” 

He laughs as he rubs soap over his body. “No, of course not. Just dress casual. Whatever clothes you brought with you will do lovely.”

“Okay,” Harry murmurs and Louis can hear him opening the lid of the mouthwash bottle, pouring some into the cap and throwing it back the way Louis might throw back a shot.

Louis steps out as Harry is rinsing his mouth out and he dries off, surveying Harry’s outfit. He brought black skinny jeans (which is one of Louis’s favourites; Harry has amazing legs) and a long sleeved Henley shirt. It’s a dark grey colour and the three buttons at the top are undone, allowing the swallow’s wings to poke out. His other tattoos are hidden but Louis thinks that this outfit shows the definite contrast between Marcel and Harry.

He kisses Harry’s cheek, looking up at him as he rubs his towel over his body. “Nervous?” He asks in a whisper.

Harry is watching himself in the mirror, his eyes a little wide. His fingers are playing with each other in front of his bellybutton and his shoulders are a little tense. He looks down at the counter as he nods once.

“Baby, I know you’ll be nervous anyway but they’ll love you,” he whispers. “They only know you from work and that secretary job was a huge opportunity given how young you were when you got it. I bet they won’t even recognize you at first.”

He smiles a little. “B-but what if I drop something when I serve lunch?”

(They both agreed that Harry would be cooking tomorrow since the only lunch-food Louis can make without making a huge mess or burning something is hot dogs and no one really feels like eating hot dogs.)

“Then you can pick it right back up,” he whispers. “Don’t worry, love. I’ll be right there beside you.”

Harry nods, smiling wider. He turns and kisses Louis’s lips before walking out with a promise to get the living room cleaned up a bit.

Louis dresses, fixes his hair and brushes his teeth. He knows what Harry’s really afraid of but is too nervous to voice it. He knows that Harry is so scared that this all might be a joke like it was in the very beginning and that Louis has continually lied to him and acted the role of perfect boyfriend until he can get him to here, meeting his friends. And he’s scared that today is the day Louis, Niall and Zayn all laugh at him and ask him how he ever thought it was real.

But that’s not going to happen. What’s going to happen is that Louis is going to introduce the love of his life to his two best mates and they’re all going to have a pleasant lunch together. And when they leave after lunch, Louis will talk to Harry about Christmas.

Earlier in the week, Louis’s mum called and she reminded him that he needed to come home for Christmas. She also reminded him that she wanted to meet that boy of his that made him smile even when he was just talking about him. So she suggested they kill two birds with one stone and have Louis bring Harry up to Doncaster for Christmas. He’s nervous about asking Harry about it because Harry loves his family so dearly and to not spend Christmas with them might be some sort of sin for him.

He pads into the kitchen, finally dressed in Harry’s shirt from last night and some plain jeans of his own. The shirt is too big and it folds and swallows him whole when he sits. But wearing Harry’s clothes the morning after they have sex is kind of something he loves because it shows a level of possessiveness and acceptance far more than a hickey could ever show.

Harry has finished clearing the living room and is now prepping lunch, dicing a bit of ham that Louis didn’t even know he had. He has the rest of the things out around him and a frying pan is lying ready on the stove, a small slab of solid butter lying in the middle. Louis kisses his cheek, smiling. 

“Living room looks absolutely wonderful,” he murmurs.

Harry smiles at him, opening his mouth to speak when there’s a knock on the door. Louis presses a quick finger to his lips, heading for the door before Zayn searches for his spare key. He pulls open the door, revealing Zayn and Niall. Most of Zayn’s hair is poking out from underneath a beanie and both of them are dressed casually. They’re both sporting dark circles under their eyes and Louis doesn’t think he’s seen Niall so fatigued since they were in university.

“I didn’t know the zombie apocalypse was today,” he teases, pulling the door open wider for them to step in.

“Do you have any coffee?” Zayn asks, rubbing his eyes. “We were up until like, four this morning.”

“Lightweights,” Louis teases again. “I was up ‘til half four doing much more than playing video games and talking about tits.”

Niall pokes the hickey on his neck. “Apparently.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “How do you want your coffee?”

They both ask for black coffee before showing themselves into the living room, curling up on the sofa. Niall leans over the edge of the edge of it, hugging the pillow tight. Louis heads into the kitchen, kissing Harry as many times as he can before the coffee is made just how they want and he has to leave again.

“Your flat is clean,” Zayn notes. “What the fuck?”

“Uh, yeah,” Louis says, handing them their coffee and sitting on the loveseat. 

“Told you he has a boyfriend,” Niall murmurs to Zayn, taking a long sip of his coffee.

Louis takes a deep breath. “Niall’s right,” he says softly. “I do have a boyfriend.”

“Who?” Niall and Zayn both ask within seconds of each other.

“Uhm… he’s in the other room, so yeah. Anyway, you remember when you dared me to date Marcel, the old secretary at work?” 

They both nod and Louis can see the gears spinning in their sleep-deprived brains.

“Uh, after… after a while it wasn’t a joke anymore. It was real and I had actual feelings for him and…” he takes a deep breath. “You remember when Marcel was sad? Like, he didn’t smile at all and you guys stopped teasing him for a bit? I broke up with him before then because I didn’t want him with someone who only pretended to like him at first.”

Zayn and Niall are staring at Louis, both of their mouths agape. Louis thinks it’s strange calling Harry ‘Marcel’ again.

“A few weeks later, he showed up on my doorstep and he was drenched and he told me he loved me. And we’ve been together ever since…” Louis concludes, watching them.

They’re both silent, just staring at Louis as they put the pieces together of what he’s saying. Louis watches them right back, surveying their expressions for any happiness for him of being in a happy relationship for four months and for having found someone so wonderful. There’s none. There’s only shock and a little bit of confusion.

“But… his name is _Marcel_ , Louis,” Zayn says, stressing his name like it’s a dirty word. 

Louis shakes his head. “No, it’s not,” he whispers. “His name is Harry. He goes by Marcel so that people don’t tease him about having a pornstar name.”

“Louis, have you _seen_ how he dresses?” Niall asks, face scrunched up a little in a hint of disgust. Louis wants to roll his eyes.

“And the amount of product in his hair,” Zayn adds. “Like, how do you run your hands through that?”

Louis watches them, severely unimpressed in their reactions thus far. “Let me show you,” he says, the slightest venom in his voice as he stands and heads into the kitchen.

Harry is just whisking eggs into a yellow liquid when Louis walks in. He smiles a little, the smile not reaching his eyes. He’s been eavesdropping.

“C’mon, baby,” he whispers, taking Harry’s hand. “Let’s prove them wrong.”

He nods mutely, following Louis into the living room. Louis squeezes his hand as they step into the room, pulling him down onto the couch. 

“No way,” Niall says, shaking his head. “That isn’t the secretary from work.”

Harry looks away, pulling his hand away from Louis’s to fiddle with his fingers. Louis pats his thigh, sitting up and pushing his unruly curls back to mimic what Harry does for work.

There’s a moment of silence among the four and Louis releases Harry’s hair, kissing his cheek and grabbing his hands again. Zayn and Niall are gawking again, their coffee forgotten in their hands. Louis waits for a few beats before giving them both a look that could be a mother’s reminder of ‘it’s rude to stare’.

“Holy shit,” Zayn says. “You’re dating Marcel Styles.”

Louis nods and Harry tenses up a little more next to him. He squeezes his hands.

“Uhm,” Niall stumbles. “Wow… _shit_ , wow. Uh, mate, we… we’re really sorry about being shit to you…”

Harry nods mutely, corners of his mouth twitching up very slightly. 

“Go finish lunch, babe,” Louis whispers, pecking his lips quickly.

Harry nods, smiling at him a little and kissing his cheek before retreating back into the kitchen. That’s when Zayn and Niall drop any act they’ve been holding together and look at Louis as though he’s just sprouted an arm out of his chest.

“You… How long have you been together?” Zayn whisper-shouts.

“About four months,” Louis says softly, teeth digging into his lower lip.

Silence fills the room. Louis can hear Harry cooking in the next room and can imaging him mouthing the words to a song, too nervous to sing them aloud.

“Can you guys at least tell me what you’re upset or shocked about so I’ve some idea how to react?”

Niall shakes himself a little and shuts his mouth. “It’s just… he’s so not your type? Like, you’ve always dated big, muscular guys that drink and you… you’ve never dated anyone like Marcel.”

Louis nods. “Because I never thought they were more than what they are on the outside.”

“So, he’s big and muscular and drinks?”

Louis chuckles. “Well, he is seven inches taller than me but he’s not really… muscular, I wouldn’t say. But he’s fit.”

“But… He’s so _embarrassing_ ,” Niall whispers.

Louis nearly rolls his eyes, annoyance flooding through him. “No, Niall, he’s not. He’s the sweetest guy I’ve ever dated and I really, really love him.”

Zayn takes a breath and nods. “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Louis smiles at him, crossing over to him and cuddling into his side. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Niall sighs and nods. “Yeah. Mar- Harry seems like a great guy. You two are really cute.”

Louis pulls him into the cuddle, smiling a little. All he’s ever really wanted is something like this; to find a nice guy that isn’t an asshole and doesn’t dump his baggage on Louis and for his friends to be happy for him. Usually their forewarnings were true and Louis ended up feeling hideously stupid about it but he knows for a fact that they’re wrong with this one. Harry is amazing and it might just be the best relationship he’s had.

Lunch is called a few minutes later and the three boys untangle their limbs before walking into the kitchen. There are four plates set out, each holding a fraction of an omelette. And even though Louis is used to this ending up a disastrous mess of cheese and ham bits all over everywhere, Harry managed to keep it stuck together and spilling out only a little bit, looking artful and beautiful. Sprinkled on top of the omelette is some green herb that Louis thinks is oregano or maybe basil. And sitting in the middle of the table is a pitcher of water, four glasses, a teapot and four teacups along with sugar and milk in little containers. There’s a plate of pre-buttered toast and jams and honeys sitting around it. 

Louis sits next to Harry, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his cheek. “You’re the best, love,” he whispers.

Harry smiles nervously, relaxing into the touch. Zayn and Niall sit opposite them, looking down at all the food spread out with mouths hanging open. 

“Wow, this… this looks really good,” Zayn says, looking up at Harry. “Thank you.”

Harry blushes a little, smiling nervously. “Thank you,” he says softly, picking up his fork to eat.

Lunch goes so much better than Louis expected it to. He expected some awkward silence where Niall and Zayn had no clue what to say to Harry or Louis but it wasn’t that at all. It was calm and Niall and Zayn joked with the both of them as normal, told stories and were generally quite normal. Harry even told a few stories, stuttering his way through them. Niall and Zayn didn’t make any mention of it like they used to at work and asked about his new job. Louis held his hand under the table through all of it, squeezing it every time he tensed.

Niall helps with the dishes and clean up after lunch, something Louis recognizes as his way of thanking him. Niall isn’t the best with words and never really has been. He’s not good at saying please or thank you and so he tries to communicate these things through his actions instead of his words. It’s something that Louis is so used to that he insists Harry come sit with him and Zayn in the living room while Niall cleans up.

The four of them hang out for about another hour after Niall is done cleaning before the other two leave to get some well needed sleep. This leaves Harry and Louis alone, sitting together on the couch in each other’s arms.

“That wasn’t horrible,” Louis whispers, kissing Harry’s forehead.

He nods. “They’re alright once you get to know them,” he agrees.

“They like you.”

“They probably still think I’m a geek,” Harry mumbles.

Louis grabs his cheeks with both hands, squishing his cheeks up and kissing all over his face. “Nope, no way in hell, babe,” he whispers. “They like you and in time, they’ll love you.”

Harry chuckles, his hands reaching up to easily cup Louis’s cheeks and have his fingers brushing at the hair behind his ears. “I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you too,” Louis whispers back, pressing a kiss to his lips.

A few moments of silence pass. Louis has his head on Harry’s chest and is thinking about dozing off after a really perfect morning and early afternoon when his phone buzzes in his pocket. He fishes it out and sees it’s from his mum, once again asking him what he plans to do at Christmas.

“Hey, Harry?” Louis asks.

“Hmm?” Harry murmurs, watching Louis and smiling.

“What… what are we gunna do for Christmas?”

“I was gunna go up to Cheshire to see my family,” Harry says softly. “Why?”

“My mum wants to meet you and so do my sisters. And Cheshire isn’t far from Doncaster. We could do both?”

Harry nods. “Sure,” he says softly. 

They discuss their plans more in-depth, deciding to both take a week off work so they can spend every day until Christmas Eve at Louis’s and then drive to Harry’s for Christmas and Boxing Day and a day or two afterwards. They call to confirm with their mums who both like the plan very much. However, Louis’s mum suggests that Anne, Gemma and Robin just come to Doncaster for the holidays. Harry and Louis act as messengers before Louis gives up and tells them to call each other.

It happens that they only have to travel to Doncaster. They’ll get there and stay for a few days until Harry’s family arrives on Christmas Eve. Louis thinks that it’s all a little formal, meeting each other’s families after just four months together. But he wants to spend his birthday and the holidays with Harry and he wants his sisters to stop begging. So he settles with thinking this might be perfect.

 

They’re about a block from Louis’s house a few weeks later when Harry begins getting nervous. The two of them have been chatting through the car ride, quieting every now and then when Harry would sing along to the song. Louis joined in at one point and Harry smiles over at him widely, kissing his cheek. But he stops singing even though Louis knows this is his favourite song and suddenly he’s just looking out the window and his fingers are twisting together.

“Harry,” Louis says, reaching across the console to take one of his hands. “What are you worried about?”

He takes a deep breath, letting Louis take his hand and looking down at them. “I… What if your mum hates me? I mean, I’m probably the worst guy you’ve dated and I’m gunna feel so horrible if she doesn’t want you dating me and I’m the younger sibling, I don’t know how to deal with kids.”

Louis raises his hand to his lips, pressing a tender kiss to it as they pull up to the house. “Harry Styles, listen to me, okay?” Louis looks up at him, making sure he was looking. “You are by far the best guy I’ve dated. The worst guy I’ve dated called my sister a bitch, told my mum she was a whore and called me a fag. Meanwhile you think that my sisters and my mum are beautiful and you call me love, Lou, babe… And don’t worry about the girls. The youngest are eight and the oldest is fourteen. You’ll have absolutely no problem getting on with them. They love people my age and they’re eager to impress us so all you really have to do is smile and act impressed.”

Harry nods, gnawing at his lip. “Okay,” he whispers, still looking scared.

Louis leans over, kissing his lips now that he’s parked. “Love, you got through Niall and Zayn a few weeks ago. This will be a piece of cake and I’m right here. I’m here and your mum will be here in three days and my mum will adore you. It’ll be okay, Harry. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Harry whispers, able to smile weakly. 

“I’m proud of you. So proud.”

He smiles a little wider and Louis does too, leaning over and kissing his nose. They pile out of the car and grab their bags, beginning towards the door. Louis attaches himself to Harry’s side like some kind of parasite, wrapping his free arm around his waist and kissing the underside of his jaw. He’s learnt over the course of five months that Harry needs both words and physical contact to calm down. Louis leans on the latter if he’s honest.

Louis raises his hand, knocking on the door. He knows that his mum tells him he can just walk in but he likes to throw her off and knock, making her think he’s some Jehovah’s Witness. 

“Oh, Louis!” Jay smiles immediately when she opens the door, pulling Louis into a tight hug.

Louis chuckles, kissing her cheek and relaxing into her embrace. He may be nearly twenty-six but he still finds his mum’s embrace comforting and familiar. “Hi mum,” he whispers, holding her tight. He knows that she misses him fiercely and he really misses her too.

She pulls away, smiling at Louis for a second before turning to Harry. “And you must be Louis’s boyfriend,” she says.

Harry nods, grinning shakily at her. “Yeah, I’m Harry,” he says softly, holding out a hand to shake.

“I’m Jay,” she says, shaking his hand. “Do you treat my boy right?”

Louis rolls his eyes. “He’s perfect, mum, don’t worry.”

She laughs. “I know, Louis. I’m just teasing. Come in, before you both freeze.”

Louis pulls Harry inside, taking him up to his old room that they’ll be sharing to dump their bags. The room is exactly like Louis remembers except much, much cleaner. There are still his posters on the wall, his concert ticket stubs and his old football team photo tacked up on the wall. His sheets are still blue and there’s still his bookshelf filled with the books that he didn’t take to London with him.

He takes a seat on the bed, feeling it sag under his weight just like it used to. The bed will be big enough for both him and Harry but his mum has placed a rolled up foam mattress in the corner just in case. Harry sits next to Louis, looking at his wall.

“You played football?” He asks, peering at the photograph.

Louis nods, pointing himself out. In the picture, he wore a goofy grin as he knelt in front. “Yeah, I was team captain in my senior year,” he says.

“You look really handsome in a uniform.”

He chuckles around a smile, blushing just a little. “Were you on any teams in high school?”

Harry shakes his head. “I did some tech work on the school play. Lights and sound and stuff. But other than that, I just kind of stayed to my own thing.”

Louis watches him, trying to imagine him nine years prior at sixteen with his wild hair and his chunky glasses. “What was high school like for you?”

“Shit,” Harry murmurs, looking away. 

Louis scoots closer, wrapping his arms around his middle and kissing his neck. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Harry whispers, his own arms sliding around Louis’s shoulders.

Louis sits up a little, kissing Harry softly before pulling away. “Now let’s go see my sisters.”

Harry’s smile is nervous as Louis helps him up and leads him downstairs but it’s a smile and that’s always a start. 

The girls are in the living room, the twins sitting on the floor together with colouring books. Fizzy is watching telly, a book sitting in between her and Lottie. The oldest of the girls is sitting on her phone, fingers tapping away at the keys. Louis smiles a little, clearing his throat to attract their attention. Nearly comically, all four heads turn simultaneously and the twins both drop their crayons, racing towards Louis and nearly barrelling him over with the force.

He laughs, kneeling down to wrap his arms around them too. They greet each other, Louis kissing both their cheeks before beckoning Lottie and Fizzy over. He kisses their heads and watches the youngest two ogle at Harry. Harry shifts uncomfortably, reaching for Louis’s hand. Louis squeezes his hand, leading him to sit on the squishy armchair in the corner before sitting down beside him.

“Who’s this?” Lottie asks, temporarily placing her phone beside her.

“This, my loves, is Harry,” Louis smiles. “My boyfriend.”

Lottie smiles, picking up her phone again and starting to text. Fizzy beams over at them, seemingly pleased with Louis’s boyfriend while the twins giggled a little. Lottie sends a text before looking at them again.

“He’s not really your type is he?” She asks.

Louis frowns. “What do you mean?”

“Well, your last boyfriend was six foot five inches and weighed about two hundred pounds. This one looks maybe six foot even and like he weighs the same as me.”

Louis shrugs. “He’s perfect,” he says, kissing his cheek with a loud smack.

Harry blushes a little, pulling him closer.

 

The next few days are great. Harry’s family arrives and Louis is immediately hugged tightly by all of them and surveyed carefully. He quite likes Anne and Gemma and finds that they’re both very nice. Gemma is quite sarcastic and at first Louis’s sisters don’t like her very much but when she does Lottie’s hair, they all swarm her and act like she’s their newest sister. Anne is funny and latches onto Louis’s mum immediately, the two of them spending time together sipping coffee in the morning and talking about everything.

As Christmas nears, Harry begins spending more time with his family than with Louis and Louis is somewhat worried that Harry is getting some kind of assurance to break up with him or something like that. Maybe Gemma, who seemed wary of Louis, is telling Harry that Louis is bad news because of how their relationship started. Or maybe Harry is just thinking this on his own and the thought kind of terrifies Louis.

Of course, he later thinks to himself as they lie together, Harry could just enjoy spending time with his family that he rarely gets to see because of where he lives and his job. Louis still continues to worry and therefore gets about a thousand percent more cuddly and affectionate, perching in his lap all the time for the continued reassurance that he’s still there. 

Louis’s birthday rolls around and that’s fantastic. He gets a sweater and a blender (he’s not had one for a long time and he’s been too lazy to go buy a new one. Needless to say, he missed making his own drinks) from his mum and a new bottle of cologne from the girls since they all pooled their money together to buy it. He jokes about it, asking them if they think he smells bad but thanks them profusely afterwards, hugging them all tightly. From Harry he receives a pair of his favourite kind of shoes and a nice wool jacket. He gets forty pounds total from Anne and Gemma.

(He also gets some of the best birthday sex ever and it’s even hotter because they have to be quiet for fear of their mums or siblings awaking to the noise but he doesn’t think that really counts too much as a present.)

The next day, Harry and Louis both head downstairs together after a relaxing morning cuddle. Louis gets them going, knowing that his sisters are getting whiny around now and that they’re not allowed to open presents until the entire family is present. Harry is smiling, pulling Louis close and kissing his cheek. Downstairs, they’re met with cups of tea and warm smiles from their mothers as they sit on the floor in front of the tree.

Jay is responsible for handing out presents, as she is every year, and she hands them out one by one. All the presents are pleasing but Louis is waiting in anticipation for his present from Harry. He knows it’ll be something thoughtful and wonderful and he’s just waiting for his mum to hand it to him. He’s also excited for Harry to receive his gift because he knows he’ll love it.

“To Harry, love from Louis,” Jay reads out, handing Harry the wrapped gift.

Harry tears the wrapping paper off, the satisfying tearing noise the only sound in the living room. Louis’s eyes are glued to him and how he’s still so careful when unwrapping a present. He puts the crumpled paper in a big garbage bag situated in the middle of the floor and smiles down at the present. 

It’s a book, one from Harry’s favourite author that Louis knows he hadn’t bought yet and was absolutely itching to. Louis chuckles as Harry wraps his arms around him, kissing his cheek and thanking him over and over. Louis kisses his nose, bumping their foreheads together and smirking. 

“Open the front cover,” he whispers.

Harry does, seeing a pair of concert tickets tucked in the front. They’re floor tickets for The Script concert in about a month. Harry looks up at Louis and he can nearly see his heart bursting in thanks as he bear-hugs him again, causing the entire room to laugh.

A few presents later, Jay finds Louis’s present from Harry and hands it over to him. Louis feels that it’s heavy on his lap and it’s about the size of a large photograph. He prays internally that it’s not a nude picture of Harry for him to hang in his flat because his sisters are around and that’d just be so awkward. 

When he tears the wrapping paper away, he’s met with the sight of a scrapbook and he beams. Harry kisses his hair, whispering for him to open it, which he does. There’s an empty space for a photo in the middle of the front page and Louis is just reading the words written above it when Anne moves, holding up a Polaroid camera. Louis laughs out loud at the words, cuddling into Harry as their picture is taken.

_My First Christmas with my Christmas Miracle._


End file.
